Category: UMSL

It’s “strategy season.” You’re either a planner and you’re kicking off your grand plan now, or you are catching up and getting your 2017 plans in place now. For both cases, it’s never a bad idea to take a step back and do a social media audit for your brand. Even if you have solid plans for the next 3 months or even the next 12, it never hurts to take a step back and look at yourself in your own industry and also in the complete social media brand spectrum.

Pictured above are my University of Missouri – St. Louis (UMSL) from Fall 2016. What an excellent group of social and digital marketing minds who are GOING PLACES. All semester we learn about the nuances of each social media channel, look at case studies of brands who have it all together and definitely discuss the social media hall of shame (Kitchen Aid and DiGiorno, I’m looking at you – Google it).

Right at about the time I lose my voice from over lecturing and harping on all things content, we make it to the best part in the semester – the social media audit and strategy of a “real” brand.

The students team up and choose a local or national brand to investigate. They are armed with a grading rubric and the knowledge from all previous lectures. And off they go. I never cease to be amazed with their work.This semester was a local craft brewery, Square One Brewery and Distillery, along with a national grocery we all know and love, Trader Joe’s. The students pick about their existing social media activity, compare to the competition and ultimately use their research to make recommendations for their future social media actions.

Now, back to YOUR 2017 planning. If you are looking for a concise audit you can complete in about a half day or so, the following 5 points are your guide. This is exactly how I grade my class’ efforts. They must hit on each point below, and then show me part of the future strategy for full points. It’s a great starting point for working your way into your first social media strategy.

(#1) Properly introduce us to your brand. The way you introduce someone new to Grandma.
What is your brand?
What is your brand’s mission?
What do they do?
How do they make money or raise awareness?
What is some recent news about your brand?

(#3) Audit Your Current Social Channels. It’s OK if this is painful. Only up from here!
Which social networks are you currently on?
Does your brand have a blog?
How often are you posting?
Who is the audience of each social network?
How many followers on each channel?
What is the engagement like with users today?
What is the purpose of each channel (use goals above)?
What is the ratio of jabs vs. hooks (credit Gary V.)?
Include screenshots of current channels and contentHint: make a table to concisely display this information to business leaders

(#4) Audit Your Competition’s Social Presence (audit at minimum 2 direct competitors). Find out what the cool kids on the block are doing.
Which social networks are they currently on?
Do the competitors have a blog?
How often are they posting?
Who is the audience of each social network?
How many followers on each channel?
What is the engagement like with users?
What is the purpose of each channel (use goals above)?
What is the ratio of jabs vs. hooks (another credit to GV)?
Include screenshots of channels and content for each competitorHint: make a few tables to concisely display this information to business leaders

(#5) Which social networks align with your business and why? There’s a reason all the financial firms are not blowing you up with Snaps (yet).
Pick from: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Snapchat, Blog… But more importantly, explain your specific reasoning for investing time into each channel.

Whew, you made it. Now, you are ready to make your social strategy recommendations. I look for my class to answer the following:
How does your team recommend the brand move forward?
What should they do more of (give specific examples/screenshots)?
What should they do less of (give specific examples/screenshots)?
How should the brand use social advertising on each channel?
How can the brand improve each channel based on what you’ve learned as best practices this semester?
Which social channels should they add to their strategy, or remove?
Should your brand change its blog strategy or add a blog? Be specific about why.

Then, we actually start to execute on the plan. This is as close to “real life” as it gets kids. Develop a Content Strategy and Sample content Calendar by answering the following:
What types of content should the brand post and promote? Think: Videos, Photos, Ebooks, Webinars, Blog posts, Infographics, Whitepapers and Case studies
How frequently should they be sharing?
Where will the brand promote the specific content?

Create 5 example posts (tell us if jab vs. right hook); 1 example/slide; include at least 2 Canva.com or Inform original images. Remember Google is not a “free” image source. If blogging is part of your brand’s strategy, give 5 blog titles your brand could use immediately.

Finally, don’t forget to define social success. Which metrics will your brand use to define success for your newly planned social media and blogging efforts?

Please don’t fail by failing to set goals or setting weak goals. Or worse, tracking nothing. Reach for the social media stars here. You won’t win the creative game if you don’t miss a few goals at some point. Much more in my innovation post about my thoughts on the major disconnect of metrics and setting business goals, but in a nutshell, you cannot innovate if you fear failure. You will remain status quo until you get over this.

Have you ever heard of Serial? It’s an investigative podcast series hosted by Sarah Koenig that tells a true story over the course of a season. Think “Making a Murderer” in radio format. Serial really brought podcasting as a communications channel to the mainstream more than it had ever been before. Currently, 12% of the population is hooked on a podcast.

Vernon Ross, of Ross Public Relations, stopped by my Social Media Marketing class a few weeks ago to teach us about starting our own Podcast. In a few weeks, my students will be embarking on the creation of the first-ever UMSL Business Podcast series. We were so excited to welcome Vernon as he has had his own podcast, “The Social Strategy Podcast,” for over three years. Vernon is also teaching a new Podcasting course for the UMSL Digital Marketing Certificate program in Fall 2016. Thinking about starting your own podcast? Here are my 3 biggest takeaways from Vernon’s Podcasting 101 presentation as you build your launch strategy.

Before you startStep back and consider if podcasting is truly a fit for your business. Will it increase your lead volume or revenue stream? For example, if you are a makeup artist or photographer, you probably would want to tell your story with video, not audio. Any marketing endeavor takes time and resources, and you should always be cognizant of if the tactic you are trying will accomplish the objective you have identified. Don’t have an objective? Take an even further step back.

Identify your hosting vendorListening and hosting vendors include iTunes, TuneIn, Podbean, and Overcast. Vernon recommends using a service over hosting on your own to avoid server downtime in times of high performing podcasts.
Decide on a show format and episode planThere are many types of podcasts like hosted, co-hosted and sponsored. What makes sense for you based on the people that will be telling your story? Then, come up with 5-10 targeted podcasts on a subject you are an expert in. You could also review 5-10 products, give them away, or tell people how to buy them from you. Reach out to other bloggers and influencers in your space and ask them to be on your podcast to grow your content strategy.

Looking aheadVernon left us with some great advice: “In marketing, you must focus on what is next, not what is now.” This is where podcasting is at for many companies. This is still a relatively new medium that you can add to your marketing mix to meet your business goals.

Thanks again to Vernon for sharing your many insights. We are already looking forward to your next #bowtiethursday Instagram post!

Snapchat is the emerging network the industry cannot get enough of. While traditional social media has been focused on preserving memories for generations, Snapchat delivers on their promise that twenty-four hours later the moment never happened. With live filters, download capability and geo-targeting options added over the last eighteen months, the former ‘teenage wasteland’ has become one of the fastest growing marketing platforms. While major brands and events across the globe have made their way onto this platform, surprisingly, marketers as a whole have been slow to embrace the latest social trend, with only an estimated 70% active on the platform on a consistent basis.

So what’s alluring about vanishing photos, videos and filters? Unlike the ever-lasting portal of Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat holds content that cannot be scanned by Googlet least not yet, we’re watching you Google +). To follow a brand that is not paying to play on the main page, one has to manually enter the exact name or scan a barcode. Snapchat takes more effort than traditional social media networks to engage with, meaning those who do engage feel a much stronger connection than just scrolling through a curated feed. Since a user can switch from plastic surgery cuts to CNN breaking news through a simple swipe, the options become limitless for what brands can offer.

Here are a few easy ways to jumpstart your Snapchat presence now:

1. Create a Geofilter

Genius or simplistic, one cannot deny the stronghold geofilters have provided to Snapchat’s growth. Whether on a street, at a national monument, or attending your cousin’s wedding, geofilters provide a custom filter that anyone can use to personalize a photo. Priced based on the amount of space and volume of users, geofilters range from $15-20,000 for a twenty-four hour period. With photos from Snapchat appearing more frequently across other platforms such as Instagram, this tool provides promotional potential beyond your simple sugar rush.

2. Ask for a ‘Snap Back’

While many brands utilize Snapchat for bursts of behind the scenes magic, not every brand has an exciting celebrity ready in the makeup chair. According to Adweek, nearly a fourth of all content created on the platform is product focused, yet only a meager 11% of all brands request a further call to action! While content strategies will vary depending on business model, those ten seconds you have with consumers is your time for pure engagement. Keep the campaign going with a URL name or ask them to ‘Snap Back’ ideas! Side Note: Live links are not a feature in Snapchat for brands yet, but it’s most likely only a matter of time.

3. Give a Personal Lens

As mentioned above, the introduction of interactive filters last year helped Snapchat’s content move from native to national, with added capabilities like image downloading and re-purposing on users’ Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts. Interactive filters use facial detection technology to create a custom environment over someone’s silhouette. Beyond the millions of puppy dog images created lies a key potential for marketers-sponsored lenses. This recent example from Wendy’s showed the ‘Hot’ lens to promote their new Jalapeno Fresco melt. No longer are messages only being pushed to users, but they are personally choosing to utilize them. That’s brand power like never before!

So if you’re not on Snapchat yet, either for personal or brand reasons, there’s no time like the present. With the network still considered ‘emerging’, we have yet to see the full potential this platform has to offer marketers. Only recently have they introduced their new paid advertising platform, complete with a toolbox of analytics to make our senses tingle. Creating content on the platform is perhaps the cheapest of all social media networks because you don’t need high quality designs or surveys – just day to day activity. If all else fails, you came up with some cute new photos to share.

We are halfway through our immersion into Social Media Marketing For Business this semester. So far, we have covered content marketing, the impact of blogging on social, Hootsuite as a social manager’s tool, and in-depth discussions of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the Emerging Networks (Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Google+) for business use.

Here are our top takeaways from our social studies thus far:

There is a huge difference between “curating” and” creating” content. Curated content is information generated from other sources (like sharing Forbes or Mashable articles), whereas created content is derived from the creators own resources (like infographics, whitepapers, blog posts, shareable art).

Understand Jabs vs. Right Hooks. Is a company trying to sell their product, or just making you aware of information you might be interested in? A “Jab” is content that makes customers laugh, think or play a game, but does not give a strong selling impression. “Right hooks” are content pieces that typically include call-to-actions (CTAs) that lead to actual purchasing.

Use the 4-1-1 Content Rule. This rule states that for every 4 informative content pieces you have, you should have 1 hard and 1 soft sell. The hard-sell provides a strong call-to- action (CTA), and the soft-sell subtly incorporates the brand in the message.

Be attentive. Look for events, causes and shows coming up in order to create content about something other than your business. Be mindful of your account, and make sure you are posting and commenting on a regular schedule. Not having any current activity will lead your followers/customers to believe you are not serious about your business.

Organic reach is estimated to be 2.6% for Facebook pages. With organic reach declining, it is important for businesses to use paid reach. Paid ads are not free, but allow the content to be targeted to non-followers.

Hootsuite is the best social tool you may have never heard of. Hootsuite is a great creation that can assist you in planning and scheduling the posting of your future posts for all your social media channels. Another great free tool is www.canva.com for creating beautiful social media images and graphics.

Align your brand’s social channels. Across the board, you want all your social media channels to incorporate the same logo, descriptions, and messaging, but with the flavor of the channel. The same goes for your personal pages – use the same headshot and handles whenever possible.

All businesses should be on LinkedIn. This social network provides you with credibility, a large network of professionals, sales opportunities, and a marketing platform for your business. There are a multitude of options for ads as well. Sponsored Updates will go to a wider audience than page followers, Dark Posts are ads seen on non-follower newsfeeds (but not in the company timeline) and Sponsored InMails allow you to send a targeted message that appears in a LinkedIn user’s inbox.

Everyone can be a publisher on LinkedIn Pulse. Pulse is a great opportunity to publish relevant articles or blog-like posts without necessarily having to own a separate blog. Pulse can be helpful in increasing LinkedIn followers and inbound site links.

Instagram is key in today’s market. It’s important to remember a few things before posting for your company. Don’t use stock photos – photos should be taken as native because you are going to reach the younger generations who are expecting that. Moreover, use descriptive hashtags in excess as the method to reach the most people looking to discover your brand or business category.

Understand the proper use of pictures. It’s important to make sure that you don’t use pictures from someone else without their permission. It’s best to take or create your own pictures to post on social media than using Google or other search engines.

Use Twitter hashtags. Hashtags tag tweets by topic and make it easier for others with similar interest to find your tweets. Also, hashtags help social media marketers promote and track social campaigns.

What else should we know? What do you wish your entry-level social and content employees were stronger at?

Up next: we’re putting this all together in a social strategy and analyzing for social ROI!

I was recently fortunate to sit in on a keynote presentation by Social Expert, Crystal Washington. By now, you know that social media has caused a shift in the way we communicate with each other. In fact, we are losing the ability to even connect effectively offline. Social media has provided a visible platform for everyone and anyone – no matter how valuable or annoying the comments or critiques your “Friends” may share.

Crystal opened her speech with some eye opening statistics regarding how candidates are finding jobs on social from a Jobvite study:
– 10.2 million found their latest role via LinkedIn
– 8 million found their latest role via Twitter
– 18.4 million found their latest role via Facebook

Did the Facebook statistic shock you? I was floored. If that’s not a testimony for a clean social profile, I don’t know what can convince you.

So, how are you being located by your future employer on social sites like LinkedIn?

People find you on LinkedIn via Keywords. Keywords are the words or terms that you want to be found for. For example, if you want to work in social media, your profile should be full of terms like social media, marketing, Twitter, Facebook, community administrator, social content and social analytics. You must have the keyword in your profile to populate in keyword searches by recruiters.

You are found via your connections. You will show up higher in LinkedIn search results when you have common connections. Moral of the story: ditch the business card rolodex or binder, and start connecting with your peers, former colleagues, alumni and professional group connections. Crystal recommends www.shoeboxed.com to automate going paperless.

You are more “searchable” when you join groups. The basic (free!) LinkedIn user can join up to 50 groups. Join as many groups as you can that are relatable to your industry or field (or dream industry/field) so that you are found by recruiters targeting individuals in those groups.

Finally, remember the elements of a strong personal social brand:
– Use Keywords related to the job you are looking to get
– Do you have a visible profile picture? “Or are you a stranger in a ski mask?” (Thanks for the laugh on that one, Crystal.)
– Do you consistently post on your social channels and add value, or do you only show up when you want something? Share interesting articles, comment and answer the questions of others to demonstrate that you are engaged.
– When you make contacts or request connections on social, be yourself. Don’t use a form letter, or template. Write from your own head, and you’ll sound much more authentic.

I’ll end the same way Crystal did: What’s your ONE thing you can do immediately from this post?

Why is a clean and updated social profile essential? Your social profile can lead to job and leadership opportunities, build credibility, promote recognitions, give higher perceived value to future employers and facilitate partnerships.

Brianna Smith, owner of Being Your Brand, recently spent some time in my Intro to Social Media course presenting best practices for your personal social brand. Here are my 5 takeaways from her excellent presentation.

1. What would people find if they Goggled you?We’ve all probably Googled ourselves by now, but did you know that Google indexes your social channels content (i.e. comments)? Just because YOUR profile is private, does not mean your activity from your friend’s profiles is private. What do you want people to see when they Google you? Shoot for the results to connect users to powerful information about what you do in your industry.

2. You can promote a clean social brand to companies.Are you including your handles and blog in your signature, resume and cover letters? 92% of companies use social media for recruiting, and 45% of Fortune 500s include links to social media on their career page sections. Your social profiles and blog can demonstrate your knowledge of a subject to potential employers before you even interview. Blogging and personal social branding can help set you up to find your dream job, and not just to accept your first offer.

3. Build your brand on where you see yourself.What are you an “expert” at? What do you find yourself searching for online, or reading about in your free time? Maybe you are not an expert at this point, so think about it more as “what do you rock at?”

If you want to be the guru of tech marketing, you should be writing about it. If you are not in tech right now, you can provide your thoughts on campaigns that tech companies are doing, and point out the best practices they are following (or not following). Your blog can change as your interests evolve, so don’t be bogged down by making this decision. Getting started is more important than being 100% sure. When I started this blog, I wasn’t even in love with the name, but many domains I wanted were taken, and instead I just got going.

Note: Not all your passions are your career or brand. I love running and trying new restaurants, but building my brand on running and eating out is not going to benefit me professionally. There are some lucky folks out there that have an intersection in their personal and professional passions for whom this rule would be an exception.

4. Have a consistent look online.Keep the same name, profile picture, cover imagery and tone across your social profiles. If possible, match all your handles as close to your actual name as possible. Even if you are not active on all social channels, reserve your handle now.

5. Own a personal website or blog.Wix and WordPress are user-friendly and economical tools for building your personal following. If you are blogging, blog on a regular basis. Consider setting a goal per month. Use social media to market your online brand and blog posts. Curate and share information that you find relevant to your audience. Brianna recommends checking out www.socialmediatoday.com, www.socialmediaexaminer.com and the Hubspot blogs for curating social and digital themed content on your social channels.

Thanks again to Brianna for stopping by my class and sharing your personal branding expertise! Visit Brianna’ blog to learn more about her best practices and her story.

As a 2009 graduate with a degree in Business Administration, a concentration in Marketing and a minor in Communications, I really thought I was ready to take on the marketing world. Or, maybe I had just drank too much of the liberal arts kool-aid (#GoBulldogs).

The first few years of my career were great. I started as a Marketing Analyst, learning the ins-and-outs of the client experience, calculating MANY a cost-per-sale analyses and making recommendations as to which campaigns needed to be accelerated and which needed to be trashed.

As I progressed into marketing generalist roles, all things digital quickly became part of my daily responsibilities. I was creating banners, landing pages and social assets on the fly. Even though YouTube and blogs proved to be fantastic resources for learning more about my new responsibilities, I felt like I had a GAPING hole in my skill set and education in regards to all things digital marketing. Yes, I could brief a designer on how to create an appealing banner, write a clever social post or develop drip email campaigns… but what did this all mean? How did this all work together, and what the heck were we really spending our resources on?

I realized that even graduating in 2009 (wow – less than 7 years ago) was still TOO EARLY to have any formal education on digital strategy. I knew all about consumer behavior, retail marketing and integrated campaigns, but there wasn’t a single digital course or project to speak to from my undergraduate transcript. And not at the fault of my alma mater – this digital takeover just happened so fast.

After a lot of research and networking with the best minds in St. Louis digital, I discovered that Digital Marketing Certificates from universities are starting to be “a thing.” They usually landed in the Professional Studies or Schools of Continuing Education in my research experience. In true Sarah fashion, I jumped right in and decided since I was starting a Digital Certificate, I might as well just complete a full-on MBA in the process since many of the classes could be credit toward an MBA anyway.

This education has completely changed both my skill set and overall confidence in digital tactics. There are still things I don’t know that come up, but I now feel like I have the right base level understanding to attack these issues head-on. Here’s a sample of the coursework I recently completed to acquire my certificate:

Going back to school or fitting in classes on the weekends is definitely not the answer for everyone. It’s about timing. Here are additional non-school resources I have used to round out this new knowledge:

2. HubSpot.com Blogs | One of my best and most visited friends. Search for anything social or digital, and you’ll find very tactical descriptions and tips.

3. Lynda.com | Did you Lynda.com is now a LinkedIn company? Great (and cost effective) resource to pick up more “formalized” training.

4. Hootsuite University | I cannot say enough about how much Hootsuite makes the lives of social media managers easier. As an added bonus, they now offer an entire suite of classes that teach you not only how to best use their platform, but also how to effectively build, target and deploy social campaigns.

5. Networking | Meet with the best digital talent that will reply to your emails. Is there a local Social Media or Digital Marketing Club? I know St. Louis has several. Admit you’re clueless and talk to the experts about how they “figured it all out” in the city you are in. And, these are awesome connections for later when you “get it.”

Digital and social are not only here, they are speeding away. It’s part of our jobs as effective marketers to keep up.

Many of my connections know that I recently completed my MBA. People often ask if the time is worth it, if it means an automatic raise, or if the price tag on the school really matters. I won’t delve into my thoughts on all those topics now, but here are the “3 Things I Know For Sure” after wrapping up my MBA.

#1: Like most endeavors in life, you’ll only get out of your MBA what you put into it.One can complete an MBA doing the bare minimum, and earn bare minimum performance and benefits. I’ve never been a fan of the saying “even the last person in each medical school class is still a doctor.” Personally, I don’t want the poorest performing medical student operating on my loved ones or me. If you read the assigned Harvard Business Reviews, engage in class discussions and equally contribute to group projects, you’ll take more away from your classes than you would by just checking the boxes. I participated in internships, business school advisory boards and clubs to gain even more academic experience.

#2: Time management is not optional.It is 150% true that your life will have to be rebalanced if you start an MBA. I took anywhere from 6-9 hours per semester, and I did not take any summers off (to keep the momentum going). Gone were lazy Saturdays, and my workout routine definitely took a backseat to reading textbooks and writing marketing strategies. Do not procrastinate. If you’ve been a career procrastinator, now is the time to break that habit. You never know what’s going to come up at work or home, so it’s always better to be ahead on schoolwork. I found some fantastic coffee shops, and focused on my MBA on weekends to minimize homework time during the workweek.

#3: I’m happy I went to a school I could actually afford.Did I go to one of the top 10 MBA programs? No, but I did ensure the school I went to had an accreditation by the AACSB (The Association to Advance College Schools of Business), and was ranked in the top 3% of US business schools by The Princeton Review. An AACSB distinction is earned by a small percentage of business schools worldwide. If your company covers your MBA, of course this is a non-issue. Attend the best school you can in your target locale. For me, it was a priority to attend a school that I would not resent for 5-10 years after receiving my diploma.

At the end of the day, I would repeat the past 2.5 years in a heartbeat. My MBA has not only rounded out my business education, but has also put me in contact with some of the greatest folks in business that I have met to this point.

I’d like to end with some thank you’s. Thank you to my family and friends for understanding when I had to study, listening to me complain about group projects (no, they never get better) and celebrating good semesters. Thank you to my professors and classmates for sharing your stories and collaborating.

I’m happy to say that I’ll be stepping to “the other side of the desk” later today, and teaching my first course ever – Intro to Social Media Marketing for undergraduates at the University of Missouri – St. Louis.

If you’re thinking about starting your MBA, 2016 could be your year. The hardest part is often just making the decision to begin. The time will pass either way.